A FAITHFUL ADAPTATION

Offaly stars raising money for charity by mimicking famous faces and all Conneely wants to do is break free

BEN CONNEELY imagined he’d be gearing up for the Christy Ring Cup climax around now – but instead he’s raiding his girlfriend’s wardrobe.

Conneely is one of a number of Offaly GAA stars taking part in a variety show on Saturday night in aid of local charities.

It will be broadcast through the county’s social media channels and they certainly couldn’t be accused of playing it safe, with team manager Michael Fennelly performing as Tina Turner while captain Conneely will lip-sync to Queen’s ‘I Want To Break Free’.

What’s more, he’ll be donning female attire, just as Freddie Mercury did in the music video for the 1984 hit.

Conneely explained: “I planned on doing another one and then, I don’t know what it was, but something inside me said I may change this one now and maybe do something that’d be a bit more craic.

“That idea popped in and I just kind of went with that. I think we all kind of picked acts that were going to be a bit more embarrassing for us because we know then that people would go, ‘Well, they’re definitely going outside their comfort zone here now for the charities’.”

The activity around the fundraiser has brought a welcome spike in the team’s interaction after the season was abruptly shut down in March.

“To go from seeing lads four or five times a week to not seeing them at all was strange. We kind of kept in contact but this is probably the first big interaction. We all started talking more and it brought a bit of craic back to it.

“We started with a target of €15,000 but at the moment it’s looking like we should reach that and hopefully go further.”

The Christy Ring Cup should be heading for the semi-final stage by now and, with Offaly desperate to break out of hurling’s third tier, they could do without a lost season.

Three of the county’s four All-ireland winning captains are St Rynagh’s clubmates of Conneely’s and he’s holding out hope that he may yet lift silverware in Croke Park this year.

“I would be hopeful of it going ahead but, on the other hand, if any slight thing was to go again with the Covid, you could see it taking a backwards step. If it stays going the way it is you’d be hopeful that it would be back running alright, probably in

October, around that time.”